


Ice and Water

by Pepperdoken



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Double Drabble, Drabble Sequence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepperdoken/pseuds/Pepperdoken
Summary: Haku visits a bathhouse, and meets Haku.
Relationships: Haku (Naruto) & Haku | Nigihayami Kohakunushi
Comments: 11
Kudos: 169
Collections: Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection, What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside), When Death Loves Flamingos





	Ice and Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VagabondDawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VagabondDawn/gifts).



Going to the bathhouse had been Isobu’s request: it had apparently been something the bijuu had done together, grudgingly, on a regular basis. 

“Regular” in this case had meant once a century, but Haku isn’t really going to argue. He’s curious to see what a bathhouse occasionally frequented by bijuu looked like. 

His first look at it is impressive: a towering red building at the edge of a cliff with green tile roofing. Chimneys billow black smoke — the result of the boilers for the bathwater, Haku assumes, and steam rises from outdoor baths. 

“Well,” Haku murmurs. “Shall we, Isobu?” 

* * *

When he drops to the ground, however, there’s a confused — and somewhat horrified — murmur from both the patrons and the attendants of the bathhouse, wondering what a _human_ is doing there. 

_Oh,_ Isobu says sheepishly. _I forgot, they don’t serve humans._

_Isobu…_ Haku thinks back fondly, with just a tinge of exasperation. He’s glad that he had already been using a scent suppression technique, but he can’t really blame Isobu for forgetting. This was Isobu’s first time visiting since being sealed. 

Haku strides forward, drawing on the chakra Isobu offers as he does. “One bath, please,” Haku says. 

* * *

The bathhouse assigns Haku an escort, because they don’t know what to make of someone who looks like a human but feels like a bijuu, and Haku doesn’t really feel like making things easier for them. 

And really, their confusion and wariness is hypocritical, given that the escort Haku gets is just a teenager himself, and looks just as human as Haku does — at least to Haku’s human eyes. When Haku is using Isobu’s chakra, he can see the vague outline of white scales and a green mane. He’s a river dragon. 

Ironically, his escort is _also_ named Haku. 

* * *

“I haven’t heard of a river named Haku,” Haku comments idly. “Where is it?” 

The question makes his dragon escort flinch. Haku opens his mouth to apologize, but the dragon shakes his head. “I do not… remember,” the dragon says quietly. “Humans covered up my river, and forced it to run underground. When I came here, Yubaaba allowed me to apprentice with her, but the price was my river’s name.” 

Haku stills. Isobu has been bringing up detail after detail about how these spirits worked, and Isobu knows that river dragons _are_ their river. A river dragon that forgets their river’s name has forgotten their _own_ name. 

“That hardly seems fair,” Haku says quietly. “Is there anyone who might know?” 

“Humans,” the dragon says despairingly, then he pauses. “There was… a girl,” he says after a moment. “She lost her shoe, and fell into my river trying to get it. I carried them both safely to shore.” 

Haku nods. “Do you happen to remember her name?” 

“Chihiro,” the dragon replies instantly. “Her name was Chihiro.” 

No last name, but he could work with that. “One last question,” he continues politely, relaying Isobu’s question. “Where could we find Zeniiba these days?” 

* * *

Zeniiba — according to Isobu — used to work at the bathhouse with her twin sister Yubaaba. She would sell her magical talents to the bathhouse’s clients, making protective amulets and tools to find obscure or abstract concepts. There’s been some kind of falling out between them, obviously, as Haku finally finds Zeniiba living in Swamp Bottom. 

To find a girl named Chihiro, who lost her shoe and fell into a river dragon’s river, Zeniiba was the first, best, and _only_ choice. 

Zeniiba has Haku and Isobu help in the process of making the tool they requested. “ _You_ are the only one who knows exactly what you want,” she explains before they start. “If it is supposed to work at its best, you need to be involved in the making of it.” 

The tool leads Haku through another of the odd rifts that he had passed through to reach the bathhouse. Beyond it are massive cities he wishes he had time to study, but he’s on a tight time limit as it is. 

He finds the girl, and judiciously arranges things so that her parents move to the nearest rift to the bathhouse. 

Hopefully the dragon will find her soon. 


End file.
